


Absolution

by lifeofsnark



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015), Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi (2017)
Genre: And Ben had to kill that kid, Canon Compliant, Fanfic gap, Gen, Had to kill his FRIEND, Kinda, Meta, So Ben Solo only committed one murder that night, So... what if Ben/Kylo didn't kill those school kids, That's the only part of TLJ that I am struggling with, What if it was another student, Who took advantage of the chaos
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-03
Updated: 2018-01-03
Packaged: 2019-02-27 19:39:43
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,207
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13255248
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lifeofsnark/pseuds/lifeofsnark
Summary: What if Ben Solo/Kylo Ren didn't kill those school kids? Let me show you what really happened...After Luke intentionally prevents Ben Solo from qualifying for his Trial of Strength Ben stomps off to his hut to sleep. When he wakes with Luke standing over him, saber in hand, Ben learns the truth: Luke fears him just like all the others, and Luke is afraid that Ben will surpass him in strength.After collapsing the little hut on Luke's head Ben takes a moment to look around. He sees the school there, ancient and perfect, and it has to go. After enlisting the help of Makeo, Ben's first and only friend, in evacuating the students tragedy falls.





	Absolution

Ben Solo wished there was a door to slam. He’d been about to do it, he’d been about to lift the final boulder to qualify for his Trial of Strength when Luke had interrupted, commanding him to set all the boulders down and retire for the night. 

 

Ben had attempted to lift the final boulder anyway, but Luke had it pinned down with the Force and Ben had been unable to budge it. 

 

“Better luck next time, Ben,” said one of the younger boys, clapping him on the back. The audience disbanded and Ben was left staring at Master Luke across the practice room. 

 

“Why didn’t you let me finish?” Ben asked, barely restraining a snarl. 

 

“You aren’t ready,” said Luke, a furrow between his eyebrows. 

 

“Clearly I am,” Ben shot back. “I could have done it! I would have done it if you hadn’t stopped me!”

 

“Look at the depths of your anger, Ben!” Luke said. “Strong or not you  _ aren’t ready  _ to begin your Trials, even if it’s only one!”

 

“I’d be the youngest ever, and you’re trying to keep it from me,” said Ben, all facade of respect and consideration long gone. 

 

“Go to bed, Ben,” said Luke, turning away. 

 

Ben went. He’d stomped across the grounds to the semi-circle of rough stone huts where the oldest students were allowed to live in relative privacy. The soft  _ swoosh  _ of the oilskin falling across the doorway just hadn’t had the same effect as a door righteously slammed. 

 

He tried to meditate before settling down to sleep. 

 

Ben sat cross-legged on the floor and tried to calm the his emotions and feel the world around him. 

 

_ Uncle Luke fears you; he fears you just like all the others did. Your mother, your father, all the friends you tried to make.  _

 

Ben shook his head. Luke didn’t fear him, Luke just didn’t want to be eclipsed. He was threatened by the power that Ben knew lived within him. 

 

_ He knows you’re strong, he knows you feel the call of the Dark Side of the Force.  _

 

I’ve never used it, I resisted. 

Eventually Ben decided meditation would do him more harm than good and he climbed into the too-short bed. He checked, as he did every night, that his saber was on the nightstand and within easy reach. 

 

Little did he know that tonight he’d need it. 

 

It was the Force that woke him; Ben figured that out later, after the fire and the flight and the regret. The Force woke him but it was the low thrum of Luke’s lightsaber that had him reaching for his own sword. Luke’s lightsaber came down, a flash of green, and Kylo countered it. He was still flat in his bed and as he looked up past the glow of the flickering sabers Kylo saw the fear and hatred in Luke’s eyes. 

 

That was it, then. It was time to show Luke just how strong he was. 

 

“No, Ben, no!” Luke cried as Ben’s free hand shot towards the ceiling. Ben fisted his fingers and the stone hut crumpled over Luke. Ben ducked through the doorway, saber in hand, as the rest of the building fell in on itself, capturing Luke beneath it. 

 

Ben hesitated for a moment. Should he look…? He reached out with the Force and felt Luke there, blazingly bright as always. 

 

When he turned away from the rubble that had been his home Ben saw the training school, neat and ancient.  _ This  _ is what the Jedi had been reduced to.  _ Luke  _ was their legacy. 

 

The school needed to go. 

 

He walked in, daring someone to catch him, and pushed open the door to Makeo’s little nook. 

 

“Keo, wake up.”

 

Makeo woke and looked around. “What are you doing, Ben? If Master Luke catches you-”

 

“He won’t,” Ben interrupted. Quickly he explained what had just happened. “And that’s why I need to destroy the school,” he said. “It needs to end.”

 

Makeo nodded. 

 

Ben went on. “I’ll get the students from this wing, you get ‘em from the other side. We’ll meet in the atrium and torch the place.”

 

“Awesome,” said Makeo. “See you in a bit.” He grabbed his saber and slipped through the door. 

 

Ben krept through the dark building waking little padawan after padawan. He told them that there had been an accident, that they needed to wait outside the front door. 

 

The littlest girl has just toddled out the front door when Ben saw Makeo enter the atrium He was covered in blood; his face stained red. 

 

“What did you do?” Ben whispered in horror. 

 

“The only thing that would really bring down the legendary Luke Skywalker,” said Makeo, his teeth flashing brilliantly white against his crimson skin. “A fire he could explain away. It’ll be a lot harder to explain how he went crazy and killed half his students.”

 

Ben did the only thing he could think of. He thumbed on his saber and swung it at the same time, pushing it up and through Makeo’s chest- his friend, his first and only real friend. 

 

“But…” Makeo said as his body went limp and slipped to the floor. 

 

Ben looked down at the body of the boy he’d trusted, then he looked to the door. 

 

It was too late to go back now. 

 

Ben spread the oil from the door lamps over the floor, lit a match, and tossed it behind him as he jogged out of the building that had just seen so much death. 

 

“Come on,” he said to the milling youngsters. “We need to hide in the cabins with the big kids.”

 

He watched as they filed to the huts as the older students came out to watch the school burn. Once Ben was sure that all the little ones were being watched he slipped away, his saber tucked in the pocket of his soft training pants. 

 

A little craft had been left with Luke for emergencies. Ben climbed in, switched on the controls, and hit the throttle. In moments he was off the planet, out of the atmosphere, and free- free to go anywhere in the galaxy. 

 

_ You could come to me,  _ said the voice in his head. 

 

_ Who are you?  _ asked Ben. 

 

_ My name is Snoke. I could teach you things of which you’ve never dreamed, things the jedi would never dare to try.  _

 

_ Why would you do that?  _ asked Ben, suspicious. 

 

_ You’re a power, young Solo, a power to be channeled and reckoned with. I wouldn’t fear your power, I would  _ feed  _ it.  _

 

Ben thought about it for a moment. The voice- Snoke’s voice- returned. 

 

_ They looked at you with fear in their eyes,  _ he crooned.  _ They watched over you for signs of your grandfather’s madness, they watched so closely you worried that they were driving you mad themselves. If they are going to fear you, you should give them a reason to be afraid.  _

 

“Where are you?” Ben asked. It couldn’t hurt to meet this Snoke. He’s just see if all he claimed was true. 

 

_ Here  _ said Snoke as the nav system changed without input from Ben. 

 

_ Snoke must be powerful  _ Ben thought as he prepared to jump to hyperspace. 

 

_ Oh, I am. I am indeed.  _

**Author's Note:**

> I haven't seen this discussed yet and honestly it's the only part of The Last Jedi that is bothering me. I can understand the motivation for the rest of Ben/Kylo's actions, but I'm seriously struggling with the school massacre. 
> 
> But... what IF Ben didn't kill those kids? What if something else happened that night?
> 
> PLEASE DISCUSS. 
> 
> PS. I'm lonelyspacebabies on tumblr. I currently have four friends on there. Please come say hi! I'm lonely too.


End file.
